


Fool Me Twice

by esmereldagrace



Category: Days of Our Lives
Genre: Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 17:05:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14856732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esmereldagrace/pseuds/esmereldagrace
Summary: Strangely, they hadn't even said the words yet.Those three words were something that he'd felt growing within him like a sweet melody over the past couple of weeks. Maybe it was a good thing they hadn't. It was one more anchor, one more thread that didn't tie them together, it'd only make ending their relationship that much easier if it were never said.





	Fool Me Twice

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a prompt sent by a sweet anon that said: 'First ILUs!'...and I wrote this monster of a thing instead. I know this was maybe meant to be ridiculously fluffy, but things kinda took a turn. Whoops?
> 
> It's my second time here, so please be kind! This is set a day or so after that WONDERFUL conversation they had last week...but I have a feeling this time next week this whole thing will be trashed, so till then I'mma just believe they got to have this. ♥
> 
> This is unbeta-ed, so any mistakes you may find are all of my own. 
> 
> Thank you for reading if you do! And kudos/comments will be loved. Enjoy! ♥

 

Paul woke to the sound of soft breathing, and soft, warm skin against his.

It wasn't something that'd normally wake him up, instead; it would always soothe him back to a sweet sleep.

But not today.

Sleep wasn't going to come easy. Not on a day where he might not get to have this ever again, to have Will in his arms, his back to Paul's front, sleeping soundly and oh so close. His scent was now so buried into his consciousness, it was a comfort to him in ways he'd never imagined it to be.

Paul couldn't help it.

Despite Will's reassurance that things wouldn't change between them, history had proven that it would, and could. He'd been left on the outside once before, and that feeling of dread was climbing through his veins, no matter how hard he tried to stamp it down. Paul's heart wanted to believe Will's promises, but his heart also told him that he'd been fooled once before.

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me...wasn't that how the saying went?

Whatever heartbreak that came Paul's way after today would be a heartbreak all of his own making. But there was no way on this planet he could blame Will for it.

God, he could never, ever do that.

It was probably a sign from whatever powers above that maybe he needed to stop trying to have a life, a love, or even dream of having a family...falling in love with anyone wasn't worth it, not when they'd leave him anyway.

Strangely, they hadn't even said the words yet.

Those three words were something that he'd felt growing within him like a sweet melody over the past couple of weeks. Maybe it was a good thing they hadn't. It was one more anchor, one more thread that didn't tie them together, it'd only make ending their relationship that much easier if it were never said.

Those three unsaid words should stay that way for now, it was for the best.

With a heavy heart, and mind buzzing with ridiculous thoughts, Paul buried his face in Will's neck for a long moment, tightening his grip around him and pressing a lingering kiss to his bare skin there. As much as he wanted to savour this moment, Paul knew he wouldn't be able to for too long, for fear of never letting go.

So Paul let go, slipping carefully out of bed, tucking the covers around Will so he'd still feel his warmth. He was powerless not to smile however as Will frowned in his sleep, subconsciously knowing that he was alone in bed now, and made a small sound of distress that confirmed it. And so Paul let temptation overcome him as he smoothed a hand over Will's hair a couple of times and brushed a thumb between his brows, hoping to smooth the frown away.

Grabbing a towel, Paul padded his way to the shower, hoping that the hot water did enough to help him get his head on straight. He didn't want to grieve, he didn't want to think the worst, but his heart couldn't help it. But he also wanted to believe in what he and Will had. It wasn't fake, it was real, it was true, it was more than just a fling--and Will meant more to him than he ever thought possible.

The steaming hot water was a welcome relief, his mind concentrating on water pounding down on his skin, and easing the light headache he could feel coming on. He dipped his head under the showerhead, thoroughly wetting his hair so all he could hear was the sound of the rushing water past his ears and the sound of his own deep breaths.

It wasn't until he felt slightly cooler air merge with the hot steam, that he knew he wasn't alone any more.

"Hey," came Will's soft voice.

Paul wiped the water out of his eyes and turned around, seeing Will sweet smile through the steam and around the shower door. "Hey," he replied.

"I was cold, and you weren't there," Will said, a blush tingeing his cheeks, and Paul knew what he wanted but couldn't help but tease a little.

"I'm pretty sure I tucked you in before I left. What more could I have done?"

"So? I was still alone, there's no replacement for you."

Paul laughed softly with a roll of his eyes. "Uh huh, sure--just say you want to get in here with me and we can stop wasting this hot water."

"Well, if you insist," Will laughed, hurriedly stripping off his boxers, climbing in and closing the shower door.

Paul was quick to drag him closer, turning him around to kiss him, smoothing his hands over Will's back as he did. Will happily threw his arms around Paul's shoulders, and sighed into the kiss, deepening it before pulling back with a grin.

"Good morning."

"Good morning to you, too."

Paul moved them both to stand under the showerhead and kissed him some more. He could never get enough of him like this, and was scared to think about what he would do if he didn't get to have this again. With one last kiss to Will's cheek, Paul broke them apart and his gaze caught on the water droplets that clung to Will's eyelashes like dew.

"Last night was really good," Will said, swiping a hand through his wet hair to push off of his face, trying but failing not to blush at the memory.

"Oh yeah?" Paul smirked, reaching for the shower gel behind Will and pouring some into his hand, putting it back in place.

"Uh huh, and I'm gonna be feeling it for a long time too."

Paul quirked an eyebrow with a grin of his own, rubbing his hands together to lather up the gel and spread his hands over Will's chest before slyly moving them downwards to rub lightly at his ass, pushing their wet bodies together.

"Where d'you feel it? Right here?" Paul whispered hotly into Will's ear.

Will snorted out a laugh, but nodded against his cheek.

But Paul pulled back abruptly when a thought occurred to him. "You're not feeling it in a bad way, right?"

"No, no," Will held Paul's face in his hands and pressed their lips together. "Not bad at all--it's all a good ache, the best ache."

Paul let out a sigh of relief. "Good, making it memorable was the aim. Who knows after today--"

Paul cursed himself and stopped talking, knowing he'd said too much. It was possible he'd unintentionally wanted to make last night count, to make it memorable, certain that he might not get to have Will like that again.

Regardless, he'd shattered their moment, and he couldn't look at Will anymore.

"Paul, please don't say that--" Will said, voice pained, hands squeezing his shoulders.

With a weak laugh, and a shake of his head, Paul met Will's gaze. "Hey, forget I said anything--it doesn't matter."

"It _does_."

"No," Paul swallowed around the lump in his throat. "Please, _please_ \--forget it," he pleaded with his eyes, hoping Will understood that he really, really didn't want to talk about this now. Not like this.

"Okay fine," Will mumbled, clearly not looking happy about it. But there was no way Paul wanted to dredge any of this up right now. He was in support of Will's decision, and he wasn't going to get him to change his mind, it wasn't his place, but despite all that...he was worried for him.

"Will, hey," Paul got his attention by lifting Will's chin up to look at him. He wanted to brighten the mood again. "Want me to wash your hair? I'll throw in a free head massage too."

Will's lips twisted into a small smile. "Sure, only if I get to wash your hair too."

Paul smiled back, and nodded. "Deal, now turn around and I promise there'll be no funny business."

"What if I _want_ some funny business?"

"God, you are insatiable."

Will just chuckled and obediently turned around, resting his back against Paul's chest. "It's all because of you."

"Yeah, yeah--blame me for everything."

In reply, Will twisted his head around dropping a kiss to Paul's cheek, and nothing else needed to be said.

They talked about everything and nothing as they got on with their respective jobs. Avoiding one particular subject, just for now.

Will was considering his ideas for the next piece he wanted to write, bouncing ideas off of Paul about what seemed to be most important and interesting. Paul filling Will in about everything that went down in Mexico, Will holding him close and telling him how happy and grateful he was that he came back unscathed.

Stomach's rumbling in hunger, they finally got out of the shower and Paul threw a towel at Will's head, leading to a scuffle between them and then some more kissing with some harmless groping thrown in.

"What did you want to eat for breakfast?" Paul asked once out of the bathroom, as he pulled on his sweatpants.

"I'll have whatever you have."

"Protein shake, and a couple of raw eggs?"

Will burst out laughing, knowing that Paul was joking. "Yeah, okay--I'm good with that."

Paul could only laugh back, and pulled on Will's ear in admonishment. "I'll make something good. Coffee too?"

"Mmm, yes please," Will said, buttoning his shirt halfway. "I'll come and help."

Paul threw a tank top on and shook his head with a smile. "No, it's cool--we can have breakfast in bed."

"Yeah, that sounds better--thanks."

With a grin and one quick kiss to Will's cheek, Paul left to make them breakfast.

It didn't take him long to throw something together. Avocado toast and some coffee was always a good bet, and Paul realised he definitely needed to go grocery shopping at some point today.

In no time, Paul was back with their breakfast, but there was a weird tension palpable in the room. Will was looking at his phone with a frustrated frown, biting his lip and looking annoyed.

Clearing his throat, Paul got Will's attention. "Everything okay?"

Will's head snapped up, his eyes wide. "Uh, yeah--it's fine."

Paul moved towards the bed, laying the tray on it and handing Will his coffee. "You sure about that? Your face says something else."

Will laughed weakly, holding onto his coffee mug like lifeline. "You know me too well."

"Is that a bad thing"?

"No, not at all," Will said, with a genuine smile this time.

Paul nodded, but didn't want to make Will tell him if he didn't want to, and so sat down opposite him, drinking his coffee and started on his breakfast.

"Sonny texted me."

Paul took a breath, and tried to gauge Will's emotions, his tone of voice. "Okay."

Will made a face, huffing a sigh. "He said he wanted to come with me today, and a bunch of other stuff."

Heart squeezing in his chest, Paul swallowed around the dread he could feel. "What did you say?"

"I haven't replied yet, but I don't--I _definitely_ don't want him there."

"Then you don't have to have him there," Paul pointed out.

Will nodded. "I know that, but the other stuff he wrote--"

And Paul had a good idea about what might've been said. "He wrote about the two of you and your great love I assume? That he couldn't wait to have you back?"

Will drank some coffee and blew out a breath before looking angry, and that confirmed Paul's suspicions. "It's actually really, really disrespectful. He knows I'm with you, but he just can't stop reminding me about all of that, as if somehow my memories coming back will just completely erase you out of my life."

Paul didn't even feel like eating anymore. "Maybe that's what he's hoping for."

"But that doesn't mean it's okay to send me a message like that."

Paul hadn't expected anything else, not when there was a chance Sonny could have Will back.

He'd left Paul behind for Will in the first place, so it made sense he wanted to be there when he could finally get what he'd wanted all along. But for now, Paul knew there was no use dwelling on that, he didn't want Will to feel bad about it. There were better things to spend emotional energy on.

"No, it's not okay at all--but you can either reply or just leave it. Right now, it's not worth feeling angry or upset over. But--I'd find it really disrespectful if you didn't eat this breakfast I lovingly made for you."

Will gave Paul a long look, and smiled, unable to look away. "You're amazing, you know that right?"

Paul waved off the comment, feeling embarrassed. "It's nothing I haven't heard before. Now please, eat your food."

Will reached out to squeeze at Paul's thigh in thanks, and tucked into his breakfast with full gusto. Paul wasn't sure he was as angry as Will was, he wasn't feeling much of anything right now, except worry and concern about what this drug could do to Will. He just didn't want Will to be harmed in any shape or form.

A notification on Will's phone got his attention, and Paul watched as Will checked his phone with another frown.

"Is that another text from him?" Paul asked anxiously.

"No, no--it's my grandma, she wants to meet me right now. Is that okay?"

"Of course it is. You don't need to ask me--is it anything serious?"

"No, I don't think so...she probably just wants to talk about things, maybe about today. I'll let you know when I'm done with her and we can meet up?"

Paul regrettably shook his head. "I have a few things I have to do with Dad, got some loose ends to tie up after the whole Mexico situation, I'll see you at the hospital later this afternoon instead."

Will looked deflated, feeling the same as Paul. "Oh, that sucks--but you'll be there right? At the hospital?"

Paul held out his hand with a reassuring smile, and Will was quick to thread their fingers together. "Yeah, I definitely will--I said I was with you through the good and the bad, didn't I? I won't let you do this alone."

"Thank you."

Paul threw him a wink and another smile, lifting their hands to drop a kiss to them and let him get up to get ready.

Paul himself changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, unplugging his phone from the charger and texting his Dad wanting to confirm what time they should meet. He was maybe also distracting himself from thinking about how this was possibly the last time he and Will would have this time alone together, before everything changed irrevocably.

"I'm gonna go."

Paul looked up from his phone, and found Will nervously standing by the door.

"Okay, I'll see you later."

Will blinked, suddenly looking out of sorts and pale, and Paul couldn't help his apprehension override everything else. He threw his phone on the bed and padded over to Will, taking hold of both of his hands.

"Woah, woah hey--what's wrong?"

Will looked away, before looking back at Paul and licking his lips. "I--I really, god--why is this so hard? It shouldn't be so hard, it shouldn't."

"What's so hard? Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm okay, better than okay, I just--" and before Paul could make sense of Will's words again, Will had dropped his hands and had Paul's face cradled in his hands instead, kissing him deeply, fervently, passionately.

The heat of their kiss had Paul shiver from head to toe, desperately wanting to take Will straight to bed and he could tell Will felt the same. But just as abruptly as the kiss had started, it ended, and Will rested their foreheads together as they both caught their breaths.

When Will moved an inch away and met his gaze fiercely, it all made sense and fell into place--Paul knew exactly what Will was going to say. He could see it in his eyes.

"Please don't say it," Paul pleaded, closing his eyes. "Please don't. I won't be--I can't live with that and then lose you."

"Paul, look at me--look at me now, please," Will shook him, making Paul open his eyes and stare right at him. Paul obeyed him because how could he not? He took in all of Will's courage and confidence that was radiating out of every pore of his body, even if his eyes were wet with emotion.

"I love you, Paul Narita. I love you, I trust you, and you are...one of the best things in my life. I know you think I'm going to forget about us and what we had after I get my memories back, but please trust me and my broken brain that this connection we have, my love for you, is as real as anything could be. Nothing, and I mean nothing can erase that or take that away from me. I know you're scared that things will go wrong, but this is something I just have to do. You believe in me, don't you?"

Paul didn't know what to think. He wanted to stay positive, wanted to believe that things would work out, except his history said otherwise. But the conviction in Will's eyes, the quiet confidence and the zeal in his words made him believe.

"Yeah," Paul breathed. "Yeah, I do."

"Good," Will dropped his hands from Paul's face, resting them on his chest, turning shy. "And I know--I know it's way too early to say any of this, but I'm tired of being scared, Paul. I fell for you a while back, but I knew that I couldn't walk out of here without telling you that I love you, my heart wouldn't allow it. A bunch of old memories won't take this moment and our relationship away from us. We have a future together."

Paul covered Will's hands with his own and nodded jerkily, his own eyes pricking with unshed tears. "I know, it's okay."

"And one more thing," Will made sure Paul was looking his way, "whatever Sonny did to you after I came back is all on _him_. I can't promise that I won't ever fuck things up because it's a thing I kinda do, but I can promise you that I will never _ever_ intentionally hurt you that way. I couldn't ever do that to you, I love you too much to do that."

Paul inhaled shakily and nodded once more, words not coming easy.

Will wrapped his arms around Paul's shoulders, bringing their bodies closer together and let out a watery laugh. "And how I could ever leave you when the sex between us is so good? That's impossible--I mean, last night was definitely in my top three of all time."

Paul broke out laughing at that, his stomach filling with butterflies. "Do I get a special commendation or a trophy for that?"

"No," Will chuckled. "What you will get is my undying gratitude, and we can probably tackle a few more of those sex things we've got written down on that list?"

Paul smoothed his hands down Will's back, revelling in being so close. "I look forward to it."

Will's phone notifying him with a message had them break their embrace. "Shoot, I really gotta go--I'll see you later?"

Paul gave him one last kiss, and shooed him away, his heart unclenching, fear replacing itself with tentative hope. "Go on, go--I'll see you later," he promised.

With another smile Will opened the door and was about to leave when Paul realised he'd forgotten to do something so very important.

"Will, wait a second."

Will twisted back around, confusion marring his face. "What?"

Paul gathered the same courage, the same confidence with which Will had been so honest, and knew he had to be truthful to not just Will, but to himself.

It was time to pour his heart out, no matter the risk.

"I love you too, Will Horton. I love you, and I trust you with all my heart."

Will's eyes filled with tears, and with a happy laugh, he slammed the door shut and ran straight into Paul's arms.

Paul held him tightly, pressing a kiss to his hair, pulling back and kissing him softly once more.

"I know our connection is strong, and I know that things could go either way after today. I could get my heart broken, or I could have you just like this with your memories back. But I promise you I'm with you every step of way, despite how scared I am for you, despite how much all of this worries me. All that matters to me is that you're okay, that you're here, and that you're happy, with or without me, okay?"

Will wiped away his own tears with the back of his hand, and nodded. "Yeah, yeah--thank you."

"There's nothing to thank me for, I love you, don't I? _I love you_."

Will grinned brightly his way, before kissing Paul so softly and sweetly it made his heart ache in the loveliest way.

Only moving a hair breadths away, Will whispered his reply before kissing him again, "I love you, too."

Paul's heart felt lighter than air, that dread and fear he'd felt that morning had turned to dust.

Maybe those three words had more power than he ever thought possible, maybe it was what they had needed to put things back on track in their heart and minds, to help them both realise that everything would be okay because they loved each other. There wasn't any harm in believing in that.

Another notification from Will's phone had him break their kiss with a groan. "Shoot, now I _really_ need to go and I wish I didn't have to."

"Me too, but it's fine, you go--you don't wanna keep Marlena waiting too long."

"Yeah, you're right--as always."

Paul held onto Will's hand and dropped one last kiss to his knuckles. "I'll be waiting at the hospital for you later."

"I'm counting on it. So later then?"

"Later," Paul said, as Will opened the door with that beautiful smile of his. Paul walked him out the door, holding onto Will's hand as long as he could before he could no longer do so.

Paul watched Will walking down the corridor, turning around and waving his way, and Paul couldn't help but blow him a kiss which Will pretended to catch and hold to his heart.

God, they were both cheesy as hell.

If whatever had happened between them had proved anything, it was that there was no way in hell Paul was going to give Will up. They'd found their way to each other through the weirdest of circumstances, and he'd be a fool to let it go so easy. He'd fight for him every step of the way, through whatever obstacles that came to break them apart.

Yes he'd fallen in love again, yes it was a risk...but as cheesy as it was, if Will had confidence in their love for each other, then it would be a insult to their love if Paul didn't believe in that, and believe in them.

So, he was ready for today and whatever it would bring.

The good and the bad.

Because he loved Will, and Will loved him, and that was all that mattered in the end.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!
> 
> Prompts are still very welcome...I have a feeling next week is gonna bring some pain? So I'll be on hand to write some fix-its/AUs if necessary! You can find me at babblingbhumzi on Tumblr if your heart so desires! :)


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